Satellite and aerial images and line maps are available for many parts of the world. Such images and maps are increasingly available online. Google Maps™ and Bing Maps™, for example, provide online access to two-dimensional (“2D”) satellite images and 2D line maps for many geographical areas.
Satellite and aerial images may also be viewed as stereoscopic 3D using two images which form a stereoscopic image pair. A stereoscopic image pair can be further made into an anaglyph image. An anaglyph image can be displayed on a 2D display, such as a 2D computer monitor. The 3D effect can be perceived by viewing the anaglyph image through a pair of red-blue or red-cyan glasses. Microimages, Inc., for example, provides a “Google Maps Stereoscopic 3D Application” which uses an anaglyph image to overlay the 2D image or 2D map of Google Maps to show 3D effect of the anaglyph image covered area.
However, stereoscopic image pairs or anaglyph images are not available for all geographic areas.